Saturday, February 9, 2013

Fate of the non-singing Jacksons

I’m
wondering if right about now, Sandi Jackson is regretting those remarks she
made about how she’d keep the aldermanic office furniture for herself if her
preference for an aldermanic replacement were not honored by Mayor Rahm
Emanuel.

SANDI JACKSON: Blame of her own?

For
it seems that the federal prosecutors who are hoping to make names for
themselves at the expense of now-former Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., are just as
eager to prosecute his spouse.

THE
REPORTS CAME out on Friday about how the former Congressman has signed a deal
by which he will cooperate with federal prosecutors – in exchange for that
cooperation being taken into consideration when the time comes that he pleads “guilty”
to criminal charges and is sentenced to a prison term.

The
charges, that contend he misused money that was donated to his political
campaigns to cover personal expenses, could result in a prison term of up to
five years – if he were not cooperative.

A
judge yet to be determined will have to decide how much Jackson’s cooperation is
worth in terms of time reduced from that five-year standard.

The
reports coming out from the Chicago Sun-Times and WMAQ-TV on Friday were sparse
on details.

BUT
THE ONE thing that did come out is that Jackson’s focus in recent weeks has
been in trying to persuade federal prosecutors that his wife was not involved
in any of the activity that the modern-day G-men say is illegal.

Trying
to protect his wife, he’d say. Although the Internet is already filling up with
anonymous comments (some racially tinged) that Jackson sold his wife out in
order to knock some time off his own potential for a prison term.

JACKSON: Now owned by the federal govt.?

In
that context, Sandi Jackson’s comment that the furniture used for the Seventh
Ward offices (centered around the South Shore neighborhood) was hers somehow
just plays all too well into the hands of the people who are all too eager to
see anyone named “Jackson” go down for the count.

Particularly
if it is someone who’s the namesake son of the long-time civil rights leader.
The only thing that would make them more happy is if it were the reverend
himself facing a federal investigation and the possibility of prosecution and
incarceration.

I
FIND MYSELF skeptical whenever political corruption cases come about because
there’s always the possibility that they turn into nothing more than excuses
for partisan political prosecution.

The
people who get most worked up and do their best to stoke the heat of the political
fire are those who didn’t like what the candidates stood for. Prison becomes
their ideal of what an opposition candidate should face.

And
the reason for the incarceration ultimately does not matter too much!

Now
personally, I don’t know if Jackson’s conduct (or that of his wife) rises to
the level of criminal behavior.

IT
CONSISTS OF activity that Jackson really doesn’t deny doing. His “defense” is
ultimately going to come down to something along the lines of “I didn’t know
that was illegal.”

Which
means it comes down to a matter of perception, and degree. Although I do
realize that in recent years, there have been changes in federal law to
prohibit actions that once were perfectly legal.

We’re
going to read a lot in coming months about that “$40,000” Rolex watch – which makes
me wonder if it would be less offensive if it were just a cheap, $10 Timex
knockoff.

DALEY: Would he be beloved today?

Things
that Richard J. Daley once did without giving it a second thought now likely
would get an assistant U.S. attorney all worked up – putting himself into
career overdrive in terms of thinking about how much of a public boost he can
get from taking down a “big” political name.

WHICH
IS THE real reason why we don’t hear all too often about small-town political
corruption. Who’d care? It takes something along the scale of that public
official in Dixon, Ill., to gain any news coverage.

It
also is something we should keep in mind when we regard the Jacksons in coming
months. Just how different is their conduct from the many other public
officials who toil away in obscure posts whose very low-key nature makes it
possible for them to do questionable things without many people looking!

I am a Chicago-area freelance writer who has reported on various political and legal beats. I wrote "Hispanic" issues columns for United Press International, observed up close the Statehouse Scene in Springfield, Ill., the Cook County Board in Chicago and municipal government in places like Calumet City, Ill., and Gary, Ind. For a time, I also wrote about agriculture. Trust me when I say the symbolic stench of partisan politics (particularly when directed against people due to their ethnicity) is far nastier than any odor that could come from a farm animal.